Ring mechanism for loose leaf binders



Aug. 2, 1966 w. WEICHERT 3,263,687

RING MECHANISM FOR LOOSE LEAF BINDERS Filed Oct. 9. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l VFIG.|

FIG. 2

INVENT OR WILLI WEICHERT BY @PW ATTORNEYQ Aug. 2, 1966 wfwElCHERT 3,263,637

RING MECHANISM FOR LOOSE LEAF BINDERS Filed Oct. 9. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS FIG.4

FIGS

INVENTOR WILLI WEIC HERT ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,263,687 RING MECHANISM FOR LOOSE LEAF BINDERS Willi Weichert, Friedhofstrasse 17, Lubbecke, Westphalia, Germany Filed Oct. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 402,715 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 10, 1963,

3 Claims. 61. 129-24 This invention is concerned with a ring mechanism for loose leaf binders and the like, and more specifically with a snapping mechanism wherein divided ring halves are supported by a pair of carrier rails which are positioned in side-by-side relationship within a cover rail with outer longitudinal edges of the rails being confined by corresponding beveled edges of the cover rail.

In the case of the previously known ring mechanisms,

the ring halves have been arranged vertically in relation to the carrier rails and they protrude upward and outward with their legs extending through openings in the cover rail. The sheets of written material, which have been threaded onto the ring halves therefore rest onesidely on the cover rail and do not lie against the lower binder cover up to the apertured edge of the sheet. Since the body of the arched cover rail is of substantial height, the written material can never lie fiat across its total surface. This not only impairs the capability of writing on it smoothly, but the cover also loses space for the stored page material with which it is filled by an amount equal to the thickness of the cover rail.

Also in the case of the well known ring mechanism, it has not been possible to turn over the sheets of written material flatly at a larger angle than 180 Boththe above described known arrangement of the ring halves, as

' well as the width and thickness of the body of the cover rails impeded this. There is a need, however, for mechanisms the inserts of which are to fulfill accounting and record purposes as, for example, traveling salesmen and the like. The process of recording or making copies must often be carried out in an unsupported binder, since a support such as a table or some other base is normally not available. For this purpose the commonly used round rings, spirals or comb teeth devices, which open loosely or on hinges, are not satisfactory since a round ring will draw the insert material into conformity with its roundness, and thus make an exact fit of the sheets lying one on top of the other impossible. Furthermore, these systems will not permit any given, quick and handy exchange of individual inserts.

Therefore, the object of the invention consists of constructing a known ring mechanism with the characteristics of the species as explained in the first paragraphy, in such a manner, that a loss of space equal to the thickness of the body of the cover rail is avoided, so that the sheets of written material will come to lie flat on the lower cover and thus the holding capacity of the ring half on which the sheets are threaded will be increased by the thickness of the body of the cover rail.

In addition, the further development of the ring half, on which the material is threaded, is given such a form and arrangement that the insert material can be turned over flat by 360 and that, at each spot of the opened up insert material, the snap-like opening and closing function of the ring halves for exchanging of individual inserts will be maintained intact at all times.

This object is solved by admitting that ring half which receives the written material below the pertinent bearer rail. For that purpose the ring half extends past the body of the cover rail to a proper distance and is bent at an acute angle only when the bent leg so formed as attached to the carrier rail will have such a height that the portion of the ring carrying the leg is flush with the outer surface of the binder cover. Thus the lower leg of the receiving half lies in the same plane as does the binder cover. In order to have a s-uflicient sweep of the ring half for the opening movement, recesses have been provided in the binder cover, so that the foot of the half which bends at an acute angle, will have sufiicient space for movement.

The execution of the mechanism for accounting purposes and similar purposes is achieved by attaching a mechanism to the edge of a supporting plate in such a manner that the receiving half, which has been prolonged in the shape of a Lshaped half, is guided around the body of the mechanism, around the plate, and is attached according to the invention to the lower face of the pertinent carrying rail. Thus, for example, a bookkeeping sheet which is not needed can be turned over around the whole ring by 360 and will then take its place below the supporting plate.

In the drawings preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown, in which: 7

FIG. 1 is a cross-section through gne form of a closed binder mechanism with the ring halves extending into the carrier rails;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section through one \fOI'ITl of binder mechanism in opened position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section through another modification wherein a turn-down ring is prolonged into the shape of a J, the ring halves being closed;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section through the mechanism in accordance with FIG. 3, the ring halves being open; and

FIG. 5 is a view wherein a loose leaf board is provided with the ring structure of FIGS. 3 and 4.

With reference to the drawings, the ring mechanism is formed in a known manner by two carrier rails c and d which have been braced against each other with their inner edges in side-by-side relationship and with their longitudinal outer edges clamped in a cover rail e. One-half a of the ring is arranged vertically in relation to the carrying rail 0 and protrudes with its leg through suitable openings in the cover rail e. The free end of the ring element a meets the free end of a ring element b. The ring element 12 extends downwardly beyond the cover rail 2 and then is bent at an angle to form the leg b The leg b extends laterally below the cover rail e and is again bent at an angle, being rigidly afiixed to the carrier rail d at f. This short bent portion between b and f in the forms of FIGS. 1 and 2 is of such length that the bent leg b lies in the plane of the binder cover.

In the modification of FIGS. 3 and 4 the ring element B is elongated to a point considerably below the plane of the board x, the leg B being spaced from the cover x and cover rail E. This permits a 360* rotation of the filler pages and the utility of this is well illustrated in the view of FIG. 5, wherein this structure is applied to a loose leaf board, such as those in common laboratory use.

What is claimed is:

:1. In a ring mechanism for a loose leaf binder to be used with paper having ring holes spaced inwardly from an edge thereof to be pierced by a paper supporting post,

the combination comprising at least one cover member,

said cove-r member having a plurality of transverse grooves cut therein; a resilient cover rail secured to said cover member, said cover rail having turned side edges; a first and second carrier r-ail nested in side-by-side relationship between the turned side edges of said cover rail, the combined width of said carrier rail being greater than the distance between said side edges when said cover rail is unstressed whereby said carrier rail may be moved between two over-center positions; a plurality of cooperating paired ring elements, said paired ring elements being positioned adjacent to said cover member grooves, one of said paired ring elements being secured to said first carrier rail, the

other of saidpaired ring elements being secured to said second carrier rail, one of said paired ring elements rising upwardly from its carrier rail through an aperture cut in 'said cover rail, the other of said paired ring elements descending from its carrier rail in a first direction to a point within the plane of said adjacent cover member groove, said other paired ring element then moving in a ,second direction within the plane of said cover member groove to a position beyond the cover rail, said position being at a distance from said cover rail at least equal to the distance between the ring holes and the edge of the secured paper nearest the ring holes, said other paired ring element then moving in a third direction out of the plane of said cover member groove to provide the paper securing posts, and to join said paired ring elements at a mutual juncture, said third direction being such that the paper securing post is spaced s-ufliciently from said cover rail such that papers secured thereon will not engage said cover rail and thus will lie in a single plane along their entire surface and all available space along said paper securing post will be utilized to secure paper.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,634,125 6/1927 Trussell 129-24 1,815,511 7/1931 Keene 129-24 2,006,795 7/ 1935 Dawson 129-24 2,504,355 4/1950 Stader 129-24 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,201,593 7/1959 France.

686,769 1/1940 Germany.

181,288 11/1962 Sweden.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A RING MECHANISM FOR A LOOSE LEAF BINDER TO BE USED WITH PAPER HAVING RING HOLES SPACED INWARDLY FROM AND EDGE THEREOF TO BE PIERCED BY A PAPER SUPPORTING POST, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE COVER MEMBER, SAID COVER MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF TRANSVERSE GROOVES CUT THEREIN; A RESILIENT COVER RAIL SECURED TO SAID COVER MEMBER, SAID COVER RAIL HAVING TURNED SIDE EDGES; A FIRST AND SECOND CARRIER RAIL NESTED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TURNED SIDE EDGES WHEN SAID COVER RAIL, THE COMBINED WIDTH OF SAID CARRIER RAIL BEING GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID SIDE EDGES WHEN SAID COVER RAIL IS UNSTRESSED WHEREBY SAID CARRIER RAIL MEY BE MOVED BETWEEN TWO IVER-CENTER POSITIONS; A PLURALITY OF COOPERATING PAIRED RING ELEMENTS, SAID PAIRED RING ELEMENTS BEING POSITIONED ADJACENT TO SAID COVER MEMBER GROOVES, ONE OF SAID PAIRED RING ELEMENTS BEING SECURED TO SAID FIRST CARRIER RAIL, THE OTHER OF SAID PAIRED RING ELEMENTS BEING SECURED TO SAID SECOND CARRIER RAIL, ONE OF SAID PAIRED RING ELEMENTS RISING UPWARDLY FROM ITS CARRIER RAIL THROUGH AN APERTURE CUT IN SAID COVER RAIL, THE OTHER OF SAID PAIRED RING ELEMENTS DESCENDING FROM ITS CARRIER RAIL IN A FIRST DIRECTION TO A POINT WITHIN THE PLANE OF SAID ADJACENT COVER MEMBER GROOVE, SAID OTHER PAIRED RING ELEMENT THEN MOVING IN A SECOND DIRECTION WITHIN THE PLANE OF SAID COVER MEMBER GROOVE TO A POSITION BEYOND THE COVER RAIL, SAID POSITION BEING AT A DISTANCE BEYOND THE COVER RAIL AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE RING HOLES AND THE EDGES OF THE SECURED PAPER NEAREST THE RING HOLES, SAID OTHER PAIRED RING ELEMENT THEN MOVING IN A THIRD DIRECTION OUT OF THE PLANE OF SAID COVER MEMBER GROOVE TO PROVIDE THE PAPER SECURING POSTS, AND TO JOIN SAID PAIRED RING ELEMENTS AT A MUTUAL JUNCTURE, SAID THIRD DIRECTION BEING SUCH THAT THE PAPER SECURING POST IS SPACED SUFFIDIENTLY FROM SAID COVER RAIL SUCH THAT PAPERS SECURED THEREON WILL NOT ENGAGE SAID COVER RAIL AND THUS WILL LIE IN A SINGLE PLANE ALONG THEIR ENTIRE SURFACE AND ALL AVAILABLE SPACE ALONG SAID PAPER SECURING POST WILL BE UTILIZED TO SECURE PAPER. 